Free Geek Structure
Free Geek is governed by its workers and volunteers. It's a complicated place and there are numerous working groups and committees involved. Here's a list of some of them:
Programs
These directly work to fulfill the mission of Free Geek. Some have meetings or associated email lists and queues in RT.
- Adoption Program - work 24 hours, earn a PC
- Build Program - learn to build PCs, keep the 6th you make
- Coders - improve software that runs Free Geek, meets Tuesday evenings
- Computers for Kids - modified version of Build program for kids
- Gapsters - PCs we supply to coffee shops & other public places
- Hardware Grants - giving away PCs to non-profits
- Nonprofit Assistance Program - expanding on the Hardware Grants theme
The Big Three
decision-making and work-doing bodies
- Board of Directors
- The board is responsible for fiscal and legal oversight of the organization. It is made up of people selected by the Community Council.
- Community Council
- The council is open to all volunteers (including staff members). It looks at the long term picture of Free Geek and sets general policy. It coordinates policy making between the various working groups as needed. (See the Founding Document of the Council for more details on the scope of the council.)
- Staff Collective
- The staff collective is responsible for day to day operations and is made up of hired staff members.
Working Groups
Groups are volunteer driven and are designed to support the various programs at Free Geek. They tend to meet after hours and have associated email lists and queues in RT.
- ASS
- Volunteer system administration
- Coders
- Volunteer programmers
- Core
- Volunteers working in the day to day operations of Free Geek. ("The Core" is more of a descriptive term than a cohesive working group.)
- Distro
- Volunteers defining what software goes on the computers we build.
- Hardware Grants and NAP
- Volunteers helping to distribute hardware to organizations (apart from the Build and Adoption programs).
- Grant Writing
- Volunteers helping to write grants requesting funding for Free Geek.
Standing Staff Committees
{{|Standing Staff Committees}}
Ad Hoc Staff Committees
From time to time, there are also ad hoc committees that meet while needed before disbanding. Examples of this would be:
- Interview committee
- Recommended by HR and approved by the collective to interview people applying for paid staff positions
- Resolution Committee.
- Recommended by HR and approved by the collective to bring to resolution issues that could result in the termination of a staff member if not dealt with.
- Review Panel
- Recommended by HR and approved by the collective to coordinate reviews of collective members.